City Worker Stole $170K from Library: Police

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Lynette James is accused of stealing money from a library in Waterbury.

Updated at 7:16 PM EDT on Tuesday, Jun 10, 2014

Waterbury police have arrested a city employee, who is accused of stealing $170,000 from a local library over five years because she thought she should be making more money.

The investigation started a little over a month ago, when the city’s personnel department found out that Lynette James, 51, had paid herself $12,000 in stipends over eight years that she was not entitled, police said.

But that investigation uncovered more thefts and these were from the Silas Bronson Library, police said.

At first, James denied stealing the money, but then police presented the evidence and James admitted to taking the money because she thought she should be earning more.

She said she started taking the cash in 2006 to help pay for her son’s college education and food, according to police.

James was in charge of depositing money from the library and is accused of stealing as much as $100 per day over a five-year span.

The money came from fines that library patrons paid for overdue books and videos, according to police.

Police started investigating a little over a month ago and also determined that James was also paying herself thousands of dollars in an unauthorized stipend, police said.

NBC Connecticut went to James’ home for comment, but no one answered the door.

James is expected to be charged with first-degree larceny and appear in court later this month.